Artist Disillusionment: JC's incredibly rocky experience as a solo artist is likely the reason he now stays behind the scenes and prefers producing.
Music Is Politics: In 2019, music producer Alex Greggs spoke at length in a podcast interview about Jive Records' sabotage of JC's debut solo album Schizophrenic. Greggs confirmed how Jive believed JC to be less marketable than Justin because the latter was more willing to abide by industry politics. Greggs also detailed how Jive gave conflicting information to JC about what they wanted his album to sound like, simultaneously prodding him to record radio-friendly urban pop, while also trying to steer him in a different direction than Justin. *NSYNC's sound engineer Tim Miller reiterated Jive's lack of support for JC, saying they declined to promote JC's club tour. After Schizophrenic flopped, Jive wrangled JC into making a sophomore album (tentatively titled Story of Kate) featuring production from Timberlake as well as Timbaland, but continued to shelve it up to 2007. Chasez subsequently left Jive, and though he has not released any further solo records, he remains active in the industry as a songwriter and producer.
Attention Deficit Creator Disorder: Lance admits that he likes hopping from project to project because he likes to try new ideas, it gives him something to do outside of just music, and because he dislikes staying still. Hell, he once listed six job titles on his Twitter profile.
Breakup Breakout: Justin, by far, has managed to remain a hitmaker and a top-billing act after the group's dissolution.
Career Resurrection: The 2013 MTV Video Music Award reunion sparked some renewed interest in JC Chasez and he landed more writing and producing gigs, including one for Blues Traveler and a guest appearance on Smokey Robinson's duets album. He was also going to play the role of Pontius Pilate in the revived touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar before it was sadly cancelled.
Contractual Obligation Project: When the group went on a hiatus in 2002, they didn't plan for the break to turn into a formal disbandment. Since they still owed Jive Records future albums, compilation albums were released in subsequent years to fulfill their contract (Jive has since been absorbed into Sony Music).
These compilation albums include Greatest Hits (2005), The Collection (2010), and The Essential *NSYNC (2014). The band members themselves were not even aware of an impending release of The Essential *NSYNC.
In 2004, as Lance, Joey, JC, and Chris waited on Justin's presumed return to the band, Justin was asked by GQ Magazine about the possibility of returning to the group. The article stated, "Lance Bass says 'NSync is planning to record another album, ideally in November, and he has every reason to expect Justin will be there. Justin's less certain, even when it's suggested he has a contractual obligation".
Justin: I don't know, I don't know. You're never contractually obligated to do anything. I think A Tribe Called Quest has been contractually obligated to do another album for like ten years.
Zig-zagged by Justin who has taken digs at his boy band rootsover the years and largely distanced himself from NSYNC. During Justin's acceptance speech for the MTV Video Vanguard award in 2013, he did acknowledge *NSYNC played a pivotal part in his life and that he wouldn't be where he is today without them.
Song wise, they all hated a song called "Riddle" from their European debut album. Chris mentioned that if they didn't like a song or demo they recorded, they would compare it to "Riddle" as a litmus test.
Joey and Lance have stated that they're not very fond of "I Need Love" either.
Lance dislikes his fake nickname of "Lansten", but Justin's mother apparently likes it and occasionally still calls him that.
Cut Song: When they reworked their self-titled album for the US, they ended up dropping five songs from the original 1997 German release — "Riddle", "Best of My Life", "More Than a Feeling", "Together Again", and "Forever Young".
Defictionalization: In the "It's Gonna Be Me" video, the band were marionette dolls. They subsequently released marionette versions of themselves with the same packaging seen in the video, but with different clothing.
Deleted Scene: The DVD release of Live from Madison Square Garden skips over the group's entrance in which they descend from the ceiling, most likely due to the usage of "I've Got No Strings" from Pinocchio. The PopOdyssey Tour DVD meanwhile skips over a short video of the band's history presented at the beginning of the concert, the introduction of their backing band, as well as a comedic striptease performed by Chris after "Space Cowboy", though the first two do exist on the DVD as special features.
Just before their hiatus/breakup, they had filmed a few of the shows on their 2002 Celebrity tour with the intent of releasing it on DVD like the No Strings Attached and PopOdyssey tours. It's been over 10 years and that footage has still yet to see the light of day. Lance claims it's still in the works, but he could just be trying to be diplomatic. The official statement was that the footage and/or sound was unusable, but a portion of the fandom have theorized the reason it's never been released may be due to an extended Beatles/Temptations medley that takes place midway through the show; they likely were unable clear the music rights for a home video release. As of 2015, Lance has reluctantly admitted that all footage of the show has since been lost.
As detailed in Lance’s 2007 book and stated by Lance in 2020, the label knew before Lance, JC, Chris, and Joey that the band was over. The hiatus, which officially started in May 2002 after the group's Celebrity tour, was originally supposed to last only six months. In August 2004, Timberlake tells his bandmates at a charity function that he is not returning to the group. Both Joey and Lance have since gone on record about how they passed up TV offers and other opportunities in the interim due to the label and management’s demands that they remain available for recording, while Chris has stated he wasn’t ready for the band’s dissolution.
Before getting signed to BMG Germany, the record label wanted to change their name (due to it being difficult for German people to pronounce) and to kick Lance out of the group (due to his inability to dance). The guys fought back and BMG eventually relented on both counts.
This is also the reason JC's solo career was incredibly rocky and delays regarding his second album caused him to leave the label. When he decided to put Schizophrenic up for free streaming on Soundcloud, it was immediately yanked by the record label and put up on Spotify instead.
Fan Community Nickname: Lance has dubbed his radio show listeners and guests "peanuts," as in his peanut gallery.
Keep Circulating the Tapes: Outside a couple of behind the scenes and tour DVDs, there isn't much NSYNC footage available through official or legal means. In the case of the Celebrity Tour mentioned above, bootlegs are pretty much a fan's only access to it. Same with their Ain't No Stopping Us Now Tour, which never saw a home video release though it was televised as first a Pay-Per-View event and again as a television special on ABC Family (then Fox Family). YouTube is a treasure trove of old videos, especially for TV appearances made outside one's home country. There existed several personal web domains and FTP servers in the early-to-mid '00s committed to archiving NSYNC footage that would sadly vanish as the decade wore on and interest in the group waned. In addition, there is also a website that has been selling old or rare *NSYNC footage since 2000 and is still running, 15 years later.
Meme Acknowledgment: Lance and Joey have acknowledged the "It's Gonna Be MAY" meme that pops up every April 30 on their Twitter accounts and Lance's Facebook page. Justin's probably sick of it by now, alongside a good portion of the fandom.
No Budget: Their early European days as they were an upcoming group in Europe in the late 1990s. They had to share hotel rooms and occasionally had to wear their own clothes (or switch the clothes around) for performances. Their early music videos also had quite a low-budget look to them.
No Export for You: Oddly, a good portion of their catalog never saw any official US releases. Non-American editions of their albums typically have one or two songs that were cut from the US release and several of their singles were exclusive to Europe, many containing rare b-sides and remixes not found anywhere else.
While it's no surprise singles like "Here We Go" or "Together Again" never made it stateside, as they were released before they debuted in the US, "U Drive Me Crazy" and "I'll Never Stop" were notable for being European exclusives released after they'd made it big in their home country.
The Pete Best: Early on in the group's history, NSYNC's bass vocalist was a guy named Jason Galasso. He ended up dropping out right before a live showcase that was to be recorded and sent out to record labels alongside their demo tape, apparently unhappy with the direction the group was heading (read: Boy Band). After some scrambling, they recruited Lance through Justin's vocal coach and the rest is history.
Portmanteau Couple Name: Nearly every pairing utilizes this naming method. Fanlore actually credits the Popslash fandom for the popularization of the name smush.
Joshtin or JuC (Justin/JC), TimberTrick (Justin/Chris), TimberTone (Justin/Joey), Bassez (JC/Lance), TrickC or JCK (JC/Chris), JoeC (JC/Joey), Choey (Chris/Joey), JoLa (Joey/Lance)
Real-Person Fic: The RPF fandom for them and Backstreet Boys were huge. The fanbases are largely credited with jumpstarting the idea of using LiveJournal as a fandom platform, especially since the website picked up most of its steam from around the time both groups were popular. Fanlore even credits the fandom for making the idea of Real Person Fic less taboo and planting the seeds for many of today's common fandom practices.
Chris's girlfriend in the "I Drive Myself Crazy" video was his real-life girlfriend Danielle at the time. She's even cuddling his dog in the video.
The beautiful psychiatrist attending to JC and Joey in the same video was JC's then real-life girlfriend Bobbie. She and Britney would actually appear at random tour dates checking off the guest list during "Just Got Paid".
Behind the scenes, Joey's older brother Steve worked as a cameraman and video director/editor for their last couple of tours. Much of their candid videos, like the ones used in the video for "I'll Never Stop," were typically filmed by him as well.
In Turning Red, the silent star in the name 4*Town is a reference to the group.
Barbie (2023): According to Allan, all the members of the band are fellow Allan dolls that escaped Barbieland. (The reference is even funnier when you remember that both JC and Justin were on the "Mickey Mouse Club" with Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken, and the infamous doll-themed "It's Gonna Be Me" music video.)
They also reunited to receive their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Though this was not a musical performance, thousands of fans gathered on Hollywood Boulevard to see the ceremony. After the ceremony, they appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
They've done sporadic, one-off surprise performances in the years since in different iterations. At the 2019 Coachella festival, the group (sans Justin) performed during headliner Ariana Grande's set. Justin was wrapping up his Man of the Woods tour at the time, which made him unavailable for rehearsals with the guys and Ariana. However, he gave the guys his blessing to continue with the performance and have Ariana take his verse in "Tearin' Up My Heart". In 2021, Lance and Joey teamed up with Nick and AJ of the Backstreet Boys for a charity show, dubbing the group "BackSync."
Short-Lived, Big Impact: While they were only popular in the American music landscape for roughly five years, with only three proper albums released, they did set the two fastest first week sales records in the United States and launched Justin's successful solo career. They were also acknowledged by the AV Club as being far ahead of the pop game for their time, and along with Backstreet Boys, remain one of the benchmarks that future teen idols hope to emulate.
Their elaborately choreographed performing style is allegedly the major influence on how Korean and Japanese boy bands performed as well being one of the codifiers of the boy band that sang and danced.
Fandomwise, the RPF fandom that spawned around them and Backstreet Boys are cited in Fanlore as existing briefly for about three years, but it spearheaded much of today's common fandom experiences and were early adopters of torrents and filesharing thanks to the above Keep Circulating the Tapes.
Joey slipped and slid into a wall during the filming of the "Bye, Bye, Bye" video and they decided to keep it in the final cut.
During the filming of "It's Gonna Be Me", the guys were supposed to rappel off the edge of the shelf above their toy boxes. Joey misses the shelf and instead bumps into it with his butt and that was left in as well.
Thanks to some unreleased demos that recently surfaced, JC and Justin appear to have demoed some songs for Michael Jackson, but for whatever reasons it didn't pan out, especially since Jackson spoke very highly of them.
"Gone" specifically was originally written by Justin for Michael Jackson, but he at first rejected the song, so it was released with Justin singing solo on the track. Upon its release, Jackson decided he did want "Gone" as a duet with him and Justin, but they couldn't make it work.
They narrowly missed out on recording "Bye, Bye, Bye" because it was initially offered to the British boy band Five, who rejected and insulted it, and the rest is history. And that apparently afterSimon Cowell failed to steal "...Baby One More Time" from Britney Spears.
Their disbandment wasn't intended to be a disbandment (see Executive Meddling below) but a hiatus spanning between six months and a year due to each member's solo projects as they planned to record a new album in late 2003 for a 2004 release.
The Rivalry:
On the supposed big feud with the Backstreet Boys, they weren't personal rivals. You might be surprised, if you were (or still are) one of those fans who were pretty hardcore on the Fandom Rivalry. They had a Friendly Rivalry and are definitely friends...not that it stopped Justin from joking that Backstreet just didn't stand a chance after No Strings Attached was released.
Howie and Chris attended Valencia Community College together and sang in the choir. It's believed that Chris originally auditioned for BSB, but Howie has clarified that it was a mutual acquaintance that initially joined BSB who was eventually dropped from the group and then attempted to form another group with Chris.
Backstreet were the original performers booked for the Disney concert, but were forced to decline due to Brian undergoing surgery. *NSYNC stepped in, and the rest is history.
Heck, JC even gave BSB a helping hand on their album, Unbreakable. He also wrote and produced "Teenage Wildlife" for AJ's own solo album.
Lance and his fiance have attended Backstreet shows, and Lance once surprised AJ on a music discussion show where they poked fun at each other. Also this Instagram exchange.
Nick has since joked that after watching the VMA reunion, he wished it was longer so they could re-ignite their Friendly Rivalry for fun and nostalgia's sake.
Nick: There was a part of me deep down inside that was almost disappointed. I'm like, bring back the rivalry. Let's do an *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys tour. Bring it on.
On their 1997 For The Girl tour, they covered "Quit Playing Games With My Heart".
At the 2001 Teen Choice Awards, the boys were seen offering hugs and support to Nick, who was the only member of BSB in attendance, after it was announced that AJ was in rehab for addiction.
Chris and Joey were at spotted at a karaoke bar singing "I Want It That Way". Joey and Howie popped up at a bar to sing the song as well.
During a charity basketball game in Germany in 1997, the two groups were on opposing teams, so Lancewas tradedfor AJ. (Hilariously enough, they're both admittedly the worst at the sport.)
Chris attended Howie's wedding in 2007, and AJ attended Lance's wedding.
This photo from Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary events.
This vine from San Diego Comic-Con, because Nick decides to try his hand at making a zombie western movie. He got Chris and Joey to participate, alongside AJ, Howie, Jeff from 98 Degrees and a few of the guys from O-Town.
Or as AJ put it on an Instagram of himself and Chris:
skulleeroz: Yeah if this doesn't squash the rivalry I don't know what does.
Joey was a surprise guest at Backstreet's Las Vegas residency and proceeded to kiss Nick and pick up AJ as if he weighed nothing.
Lance was in the audience during another of Backstreet show and they brought him up onstage and sang "Shape of My Heart" to him.
Miscellaneous Trivia
The photographer behind their American debut album and American video of "I Want You Back" revealed that on the orders of the label to make them look cool, he suggested that Justin play up his Pretty Fly for a White Guy image and Lance bleach his hair and adopt a Surfer Dude image in order to tell the difference between the two of them since they were both blond and the youngest members of the group. Chris's infamous dreads and goggles were also the photographer's idea, which both the label and Chris embraced.
The music video for "Gone" was one of the last music videos directed by famed fashion photographer Herb Ritts before his death.
The guys would regularly don custom jerseys for the celebrity basketball game of their Challenge for the Children charity event.
Chris, Lance, Joey, and Justin would always wear the same jersey number: Chris was 7 (lucky number), Lance was 4 (birthdate), Joey was 28 (birthdate), and Justin was 1 1/2 (in reference to Penny Hardaway). JC, meanwhile, seemed to pick any old number (22, 21, 11, 17, 28).
Chris' jersey name was always Tricky.
Lance had no cute nicknames; his jerseys would read "Lance" or "Bass".
JC's jersey names were Shazam, J Sizzle, Schizo (after his 2004 solo album), or just J.C.
Joey went by Fat/Phat One, B's Daddy (as in his daughter Briahna), and Seymour (when he was cast in Little Shop of Horrors).
Justin's nicknames were Tennman (as in his home state of Tennessee), Stinky (to Britney's Pinky), Me, and Mr. JT.
The star in their name/logo from 1998-onward originated from a meeting with famed magician/psychic Uri Geller, who allegedly drew a five-pointed star on a scrap of paper and told them that anything they released would become a massive success so long as the star was featured on it. Lance claimed on a podcast that Geller had approached JC and told him the prediction, but none of them took it seriously. They later assumed that someone in their management was superstitious enough to believe Geller, and altered their American album artwork to feature the star instead of the apostrophe.
about Jive Records' sabotage of JC's debut solo album Schizophrenic. Greggs confirmed how Jive believed JC to be less marketable than Justin because the latter was more willing to abide by industry politics. Greggs also detailed how Jive gave conflicting information to JC about what they wanted his album to sound like, simultaneously prodding him to record radio-friendly urban pop, while also trying to steer him in a different direction than Justin. *NSYNC's sound engineer Tim Miller reiterated
